Jungkook
Jeon Jung-kook (Korean: 전정국; RR: Jeon Jeongguk; born September 1, 1997), known mononymously as Jungkook (stylized as Jung Kook), is a South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer. He rose to prominence as a member and vocalist of the South Korean boy band BTS. He has performed three solo songs as part of BTS' discography— "Begin" in 2016, "Euphoria" in 2018, and "My Time" in 2020—all of which charted on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. He also recorded the soundtrack song "Stay Alive" for the BTS-based webtoon 7Fates: Chakho.
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In 2022, Jungkook featured on American singer Charlie Puth's single "Left and Right", which peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, he became the first South Korean artist to release an official song for the FIFA World Cup soundtrack with "Dreamers", which he subsequently performed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony. In 2023, Jungkook released his debut solo single "Seven" featuring Latto, which broke numerous chart and streaming records. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the Global 200, and the Global Excl. U.S. charts, making him the first Korean solo artist to do so, and eventually became the fastest song in history to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify. His follow-up single "3D", featuring Jack Harlow, debuted at number five on both the Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, making Jungkook the first South Korean solo artist to achieve two consecutive top-five entries on the latter.
Early life and education
Jeon Jung-kook was born on September 1, 1997, in Busan, South Korea.[2][3][4] His family consists of his parents and an elder brother.[5][4] He attended Baekyang Elementary and Middle School in Busan. When he became a trainee, he transferred to Singu Middle School in Seoul.[6]
In 2011, Jungkook auditioned for the South Korean talent show Superstar K during its auditions in Daegu.[7] Though he was not selected, he received casting offers from seven entertainment companies. He eventually chose to become a trainee under Big Hit Entertainment after seeing RM, now his fellow band member and leader in BTS, perform.[7] To work on his dance skills in preparation for his debut, he went to Los Angeles during the summer of 2012 to receive dance training from Movement Lifestyle.[8] In June 2012, he appeared in Jo Kwon's "I'm Da One" music video[9] and was a backup dancer for Glam before his debut.[10]
He graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul, an arts high school, in 2017.[6][11] In November 2016, he decided to forgo taking the CSATs, Korea's nationwide university entrance exam.[12] In March 2022, he received his degree from Global Cyber University's Department of Broadcasting and Entertainment. He was awarded the President's Award, the school's highest honor.[13]
Impact and influence
In a 2019 survey conducted by Gallup Korea, Jungkook ranked as the third most-loved celebrity of the year in South Korea.[65] He debuted on the list in 2016 at 20th,[66] placing 17th in 2017 and eighth in 2018.[67][68] Jungkook placed first for 10 consecutive weeks on magazine Hi China's list of the most beloved celebrities in China in 2018.[69] Various artists have cited him as an influence and role model, such as Kim Dong-han and Hyeongseop X Euiwoong.[70]
Jungkook was the most-searched male K-pop idol on Google in the first half of 2019,[71] topping the chart again in the following year,[72] and the most searched K-pop idol on YouTube in 2019 and 2020. On Tumblr, he ranked first on the "Top K-Pop Stars" list for three consecutive years. On Twitter, his tweets were the most retweeted of 2018 in South Korea and 2019 globally,[73][74] and second-most retweeted of 2020 globally.[75] Jungkook also set all-time records for the most real-time livestream viewers in V Live history twice, the first time in October 2018 with 3.7 million viewers and again in March 2021 with 22 million viewers.[76][77]
Jungkook earned the nickname "Sold Out King" from media outlets, as items that he is seen using often sell out quickly.[78][79] These include shoes,[80] Downy fabric softener,[81] wine,[82] novels (namely I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Soo-hyun, which became a best-seller in both Korea and Japan),[83] and Hanbok. Korean media credited Jungkook with the creation of the "Modern Hanbok" fashion trend in the Korean entertainment industry when celebrities such as Jun Hyun-moo, Jang Do-yeon, Gong Hyo-jin, MC Oh Seung-hwan and The Return of Superman's Park Joo-ho began wearing similar clothing after he was photographed wearing it.[84]
In June 2021, a lawmaker of the Justice Party used photos of Jungkook to promote the legalization of tattoos in South Korea. The posts were widely condemned by netizens, who accused the lawmaker of taking advantage of Jungkook's fame for political purposes.[85] That same year, images of Jungkook were posted by Mayor John Geesnell Yap of Tagbilaran, Philippines to convince citizens to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.[86]
The Hollywood Reporter named Jungkook in its inaugural "Platinum Players of Music" list, published in September 2023, as one of the top 25 musicians that "defined the year in music."[87]